Bow Tie Tutorial

I love that bow ties are in style, because my boys look so adorable in them! They are really easy to make as well. The sizes for this bow tie should fit a boy about 4 and up. Adjust the bow smaller or larger depending on the size you need. My boys are 5 and 6.

Here’s what you’ll need:

-Two 3″ x 10″ pieces of patterned fabric (it doesn’t have to be the same on each side, as one piece barely shows at all, so just match it if you’d like)

-One 3″ x 10″ piece fleece or felt. I liked the way the fleece made for a more fluffy and full bow tie. The felt works great to. **Please see note below on the felt recommendations** I used the felt so that the bow wouldn’t be floppy and would hold it’s shape. You could use other thick materials inside, such as a fusible stabilizer. If you don’t want it so thick, don’t use fleece.
-1″ piece velcro

-one piece matching fabric measuring 2.5″ x 4″. You could just do a 4.5” x 4”, iron the 4.5” side in half, then open and fold sides to the middle and iron, then fold in half and topstitch on either side. Kind of how you make double fold bias tape. It’s easier than making a tube and turning.
-one long strip measuring 3″ x about 15″, depending on your child’s neck size. You can use ribbon or elastic in place of this piece. You could also change the 3” to 5.5” and iron in half length wise, then open and fold sides to the middle and iron, then fold in half and topstitch on either side. Again, almost like you are making double fold bias tape. It’s easier than making a tube and turning. *please see note below on how to fit this just right*

To measure the long strip that is about 3″ x 15″, have your child put on the shirt he/she will wear it with. Or if it’s just a shirt without a collar, don’t worry about that. But either way, measure around the part the bow tie strap will be. Add 2″ to that measurement for the strap length.

*
**I used the felt I bought off the bolt for the first bow tie and it worked great (on left side in picture). On the second one I made, I used the small sheets of felt you can buy (right side in picture). My machine had a hard time sewing through the felt sheet. I suggest using the kind you have them cut–you can see how much fluffier and soft it is in the picture.

Take the 3 pieces cut to 3″ x 10″. Place the right sides together of fabric, and then the felt under that.

Sew 1/4″ seam around the whole thing, leaving about a 2″ gap at one of the ends. Clip corners.

Turn right side out. I used my scissors to help with this. Just make sure that you are turning right side out between the two outer fabric pieces, so the felt ends up on the inside still.

Zig Zag the two ends together, tucking in the unfinished edge. So you’ll have a piece that’s joined together at both short ends, like a ring. It might be a little awkward to sew this part, but it’s so short, you can do it!

Fold together like the following two pictures show:

Sew an inch long seam in the center, about 1/2″ from the edge, through all the layers. You might have to sew slowly, and it might have to be with a heavy duty needle, or you can hand-sew it. Like I said above, it worked great with the lighter and fluffier felt from the bolt, but not as well with the sheet of felt. AND as you can see, I should have lined up my edges better! Oops:).

So now you’ll have this:

Take the small 2.5″ x 4″ scrap of fabric and sew 1/4″ seam, wrong sides together (unless doing it the “bias tape” way, then follow directions at the top). Turn right side out.

Look at the picture below. See the dotted lines? That is where you want to have a crease, on each folded line. So you make the top of the bow and the bottom of the bow even with the pucker you sewed on the back, making two folds along the dotted lines. Wrap the little piece you just sewed together around the bow.

Tuck the raw edges under and sew around the bow. Hopefully you can see in this next picture what I was talking about in the previous step with the squeezing the top and bottom of the bow together to match the middle sewn section. I like to make sure that the bow won’t twist around in this little loop and droop, so you can either sew it to this loop, or you can add a drop of hot glue to keep it in place.

Sew your long strap together the same as the middle, small fabric piece (unless doing it the “bias tape” way, then follow directions at top). Turn right side out. Fold over one edge and stick your scissors there.

Tuck the strap under the middle of the bow tie.

Pull strap through. Take the velcro and sew on opposite sides of the long strap. Tuck in the raw edges before sewing on the velcro. I made sure to sew the scratchy side on the part that would have less contact with skin:).

As always, let me know if you have any questions. Also, I would love to see anything that anyone has made using a tutorial from this blog!

To see more pictures with my cute boys in their houndstooth, click here.

Okay, I’m remaking my bowties with your tutorial. I love LOVE how much more sturdy yours are. And having seen, and held, yours in person, I can attest to them being perfect! Plus your fabric is so stinkin’ cute! (and your boys)

I used your tutorial to make my little guy a bow tie. It turned out absolutely adorable. He’s not quite two and wore it to church this morning. I didn’t expect it to stay on but it did and that made me a happy mommy :)

Thanks so much for making this tutorial … now I was able to make a project for my little man (and not just for the little girl)… yours was easy to follow and was able to make 3 in one sitting … here was my take on your bow tie – hope I did justice to it … will do my own tutorial as well but I have shown your blog as my reference … here was mine http://thechefswife.blogspot.com/2010/09/making-bow-tie-to-jazz-up-my-little-man.html

Thank you for the great tutorial! I loved it when you linked it up with my What are little boys made of? linky party last year and it was the perfect tutorial for what I needed this weekend! Thanks for sharing such a simple, yet adorable bow tie. You can see mine here: http://733blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/bow-tie-wearing-dude.html

I was searching for a bowtie or necktie tutorial for silvester 11 and i luckly found you website. Your tutorial is just sooooo great. Didn’t found any easier on the web. Thanks to you photos i could’nt make any mistakes (esp. when it comes to different usage of measures ^^’ )

Beautiful Work and Stunning Photos!!!!Thank you so much for sharing your talents!I have pinned you on my Pinterest board… I would really like to pin some green bow ties on my St. Patricks Day Board…By any chance have you made any Green Bow Ties?

your tutorial was awesome!!! I don’t have any kids yet but i have a golden retriever. for her best friend i made an adorable bow tie for st. patties day and i down sized the measurements on the bow part and made her a little hair bow. i just used an alligator clip on the back!! It’s adorable and i love it. now they both are dressed to impress on st. patty’s day!! THanks so much!!! :)

OMG these are adorable!!!! I was looking for a tutorial for bow ties, my husband absolutely love them…..now our boys can match him. I’m so glad I found your blog. Thank you for taking the time to create and share your tutorial.

I have a little girl but a lot of friends with boys or boys on the way. I made my first scaled down version with snaps on the back to snap onto a onesie! Soooooo adorable. I just left out the neck strap. Also, I made this one out of flannel without the inside felt piece. It keeps it’s shape beautifully! Thanks so much for a great tutorial and I can’t wait to see my friends’ reactions to these adorable bow ties!

These are darling! I have it bookmarked. Some time this Fall, I plan to have professional photos taken of my three grandkids, two of whom are boys, currently 14 months and due to be born in a few days. I will have to reduce at least the one for the youngest, but I don’t think it will be a problem!

Loved the bow ties! This shows that those overly priced tags on these fashion items can be created at home an in a cheap way. I do wish most bloggers find it a habit to post something like this for simplifying one’s living. Good job!

Awesome tutorial! I modified the pattern just a little bit and used your instructions to make a bow tie for my dog. I posted the results on my pet blog–and linked back to your page and gave you all the credit, of course! If you’d like to check it out: http://seespotbake.wordpress.com/

Used this tutorial last night to make my dog a bowtie (although I just made a velcro strap to go around his harness instead of a neck strap. Works! Thanks for making such an easy to follow guide, becuase with my skill set, I need as much help as I can get. I had a lot of fun. Thanks! Here’s the finished product:http://thesnoconechronicles.blogspot.com/2014/05/puppy-neckwear.html

Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I am throwing my friends a baby shower and we are doing the theme of bow ties. So I am making bow ties for everyone to wear at the party. I think I will make the strap longer and just have them tie them on since I won’t know everyone’s neck sizes. Thanks again! These are adorable!

I’ve just made this from a holly fabric for my son for Christmas. I did tweak it a bit to make it a little thinner. It has turned out great, easy to follow, easy to adapt a little, brilliant. Thank you so much.